Riddle Me This
by FlashFestive
Summary: What happens when the Golden Trio return to Hogwarts for their eighth year and someone sends Hermione various clues to an unknown goal? Will she figure out who sent the notes? Or will she end up having to follow the various clues throughout Hogwarts and relive memories from before and during the war? Rated M for possible content later in the story.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is just a fun little story. It's a series of clues that are all places around Hogwarts during the Trios eighth year. Feel free to try and solve them as the story progresses. As of right now, I'm not sure exactly how long it will be. Mostly this story is compliant with DH, but some characters may have survived that were pronounced/presumed dead while others may have died in the Battle whose fate was not given. On another note, I have no idea how to go about getting a beta. So, if anyone would like to be a beta for me I would greatly appreciate it (just PM me if you want). Eventually there will be mentions of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other traumas so take this as an overall warning.**

 _DISCLAIMER: I, unfortunately, do not own any of the characters, books, or movies of the Harry Potter series. I am, however, borrowing them to put my little spin on things._

Hermione sat down in the Great Hall for her first day back at Hogwarts in over a year. Technically, it was her eighth year even though she never completed her seventh. Headmistress McGonagall decided to offer all seventh-year students a chance to repeat their year and receive their NEWTs, if they so choose.

Hermione looked across the Great Hall, remembering all those that were lost in the war. She caught the eye of Padma Patil and gave a weak smile. They were never close, but Hermione did spend 6 years with her twin sister, Parvati. Parvati died from an unknown curse cast from an unknown Death Eat in the Battle of Hogwarts. No one thought Padma would return for their final year, but apparently, she needed something that could not be found outside of Hogwarts.

On some level, Hermione felt the same way. She didn't want to come back to the place where so many lives were destroyed, but she couldn't help the feeling that something was missing. Who knows, maybe Hogwarts will give her that something to help close the wounds from the war.

There were only 12 returning students from the trio's year at Hogwarts. Padma being the only Ravenclaw. Hannah Abbot was in a similar situation as she was the only Hufflepuff. There were five Gryffindors in total: Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Lavender Brown, and Hermione Granger. The most surprising was the number of Slytherins that opted to return. Draco Malfoy, Theo Nott, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, and Daphne Greengrass all returned to complete their education.

After the Sorting, which was over relatively quick with only 20 first year students joining Hogwarts, Headmistress McGonagall stood up to deliver her start of the term speech.

"Welcome new students, returning students, and Professors. This year is going to be slightly different. As you can all see, there is going be another year added for the students that would like a chance to complete their education. You will all be housed in a separate dorm to accommodate that all of you are of age. I ask that you stay after the feast, so I can give you directions to your common room and a slightly different set of rules to follow. As always, the Forbidden Forest is exactly that, forbidden. Any questions can be directed to myself, the professors, or the Head Boy and Head Girl, Collin Creevey and Ginevra Weasley. Prejudice of any kind will not be tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to, houses, blood status, and wealth. We did not come out of a war to get sucked back into the same things that people gave their lives to end." She looked across the entire hall at that last statement. Her stern demeanor in place to detour any students who felt like arguing.

"We have a few new professors to introduce. Our slightly new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin." Whispers broke out at the news. People objecting to letting a werewolf teach students were most of the complaints. However, there were also students who were excited to have a competent professor again. "Silence!" Immediately all talk ended.

"Remus Lupin is the most qualified person for the job. I will not have anyone talking poorly about our professors. If you have a complaint you may take it up with me personally after the feast. To address some of the issues you may have. Yes, Professor Lupin is a registered werewolf. No, he is not dangerous. We will be taking precautions to ensure everyone's safety. I must repeat that there will be no tolerance for discrimination. Now, our new Culture Studies class will be replacing Muggle Studies. You will still be learning about life beyond the Wizarding World, however you will also be learning about life within the Wizarding World. It will be mandatory for all students; Miranda Bagshot will be the professor. Last, but certainly not least, we have Elanor Doge as the new Transfiguration professor. Now, let us enjoy the start of the term feast." With that Minerva sat down and food appeared on all the tables.

Hermione looked to her left at Ron, who immediately started to pile heaps of food on his plate. She rolled her eyes at the site; some things will never change. Harry sat to her right and was slightly more reserved when he served himself food. He ate his fair share, there was no doubt about that, but he didn't need to shovel it all in at one time. Ever since the time spent on the run, Hermione couldn't eat full meals. She would graze throughout the day. In fact, it was that very thing that put a wedge between her and Ron.

They started to date directly after the war. The fateful kiss they shared was the spark they needed to bring their relationship to the next level. However, Hermione was broken from the war and Ron was, unfortunately, not who she needed to help her pick up the pieces and put herself back together.

They fought like cats and dogs over everything. Ron wanted to live at the Burrow for a few years, and Hermione wanted to get into a flat as soon as possible. They were all awarded handsomely for their efforts during the war, which Hermione and Harry tried to refuse. She wanted out from under everyone's feet; she wanted a quiet place she could call her home.

When they weren't fighting, Mrs. Weasley was nagging Hermione, mainly about the fact that she hardly ate a thing. Molly meant well enough, but she just ended up pushing the poor girl away. Ron never once stood up to his mom for his girlfriend, adding yet another thing for the duo to argue about.

A few months after the war, Ron and Hermione sat down and hashed things out. They agreed they weren't right for each other and split up. Due to the fact they decided to split amicably, they remained best friends, who just happened to know more intimate details about each other.

With the feast wrapping up, McGonagall stood and dismissed the staff, and all the students except for the eighth years.

"If everyone could gather around up front so I don't have to yell." Once all twelve students were gathered around, Minerva explained how this new year would work. "I'm sure you all were expecting to go back to your various common rooms this year, however, I believe it will be beneficial to give you your own set of rooms. Now, you all won't individually have your own rooms, but you will collectively have your own common room with 6 bedrooms attached."

At this every student started to look around to see who they wanted to share a room with. "Before you all decide who you are sharing a dorm with, I have already paired each of you up. Hannah and Padma as the only returning Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students you will share a room. Lavender and Hermione, you two will be housed together. I figured you have made it this long sharing a space you can make it another year. Daphne and Pansy, I trust you two will be comfortable living together for another year as well. Blaise you'll be with Theo, and Neville you'll be with Ron. Now, Harry and Draco I understand you have this school boy rivalry between the two of you. However, you are both looked at as leaders in this community and as such you will behave that way. This is final. Am I understood?" McGonagall took a minute to not only look between Harry and Draco, but at Ron, Blaise, Theo, and Neville.

The boys all mumble their agreements, though none of them looked particularly happy with the arrangements. This is not to say that the two sets of boys who remained with their previous housemates were unhappy, but they were looking forward to being all back together again, respectively speaking of course.

The headmistress was not done there, "I understand you are all over age, and therefore are privileged with a few more freedoms. You are free to go to Hogsmeade on the weekends, but you may not bring contraband into the castle for the younger students. You are all of age to drink and may do so. Be warned, you will not be excused from morning classes because you decided to go overboard the night prior." Again, the headmistress eyed the 6 boys in attendance. "Most of you fought next to many of the professors during the Battle and even use their first names during personal conversations. However, please be respectful and address them with proper titles during classes and meals. If you need anything please ask, we are all healing from the horrors that occurred. If you see younger students struggling, be a helping hand. Your common room is located down the hall and to left of the Transfiguration class room. Your password is survivors. Off to bed."

The 12 eighth years made their way out of the Great Hall and toward their new dorms for the year. There was little talking while they made the trek through the castle.

Upon the entrance to the common room was a portrait of a warrior in all his armor. Theo gave the password and the portrait swung open to reveal a large space decorated with earth tones and a large blazing hearth. One long tan couch, two arm chairs, and two loveseats surrounded a dark brown coffee table in the corner with the fireplace. Various desks and bookcases were scattered around the edges of the room. There was even a small kitchenette tucked in another corner.

Everyone stood in the center taking in their new surroundings. Hermione was scanning what books she could see from her position, and she was delighted to find that not only were their books on every subject there was also a variety of other books one might find need of.

Two hallways lead to the dorms. Hermione assumed one was for the boys and the other was for the girls. The girls walked one way, and they were presented with their dorms. Each door has the girls' names that would be housed inside on the front in gold script. The Slytherins were on the right, Gryffindors on the left, and the shared Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff room was at the end.

The boys' hallway was set up the exact same way with the Slytherins on the right, the Gryffindors on the left, and the shared Slytherin/Gryffindor room at the end.

Once unpacked and settled in, everyone gravitated to the sitting area. With the 5 Slytherins huddled together on one side and the Gryffindors on the other. Hannah Abbot and Padma Patil sat at the head of the small group.

"I think it best if we set some ground rules." Hermione suggested.

"Like what?" Draco asked warily. He looked as if the rest of the group was about to banish the Slytherins from Hogwarts.

"Well, I would really like to be able to spend at least one of the many years at Hogwarts not constantly fighting and looking over my shoulder for the next threat." She managed to leave out the bit that she does that enough already; she did not need the added stress of being hexed in the common room. The trio had yet to fully abandon the constant worry the war ingrained into them. The boys were slightly better about adopting to life after the Battle of Hogwarts, but Hermione was left slightly on edge.

The 5 students donned in green and silver looked between themselves, apparently coming to a consensus. Draco spoke for the group, "we won't start anything, but we also won't sit back if the others start it first."

"We won't do anything. We just want a peaceful year to heal." Although Hermione spoke confidently she had to jab Ron in the ribs with her elbow to keep him from saying a snide remark.

"How about we play a game? As an ice breaker of sorts." Hannah suggested after a slightly awkward silence engulfed the group.

"Anyone have firewhiskey?" We could play truth or dare?" Lavender spoke up. She was more subdued after the war; this was largely due to Greyback's attack which left half her face covered in scars and a slight limp from where her leg broke. Even magic cannot completely fix everything.

This time Theo spoke up, "I have a few bottles of Ogden's in my trunk."

"How can we be sure it's not poisoned?" Ron mumbled to Harry.

"Ronald Weasley! We just got done saying we were going to be civil. Can't you make it at least a night without being rude?" Hermione chastised the redhead.

"Can't keep your boyfriend on his leash, Granger?" Malfoy retorted with a bored drawl.

"Don't you dare talk her that way! And not that it's any of your business but we aren't dating." Came Ron's reply. His neck was started to get flushed showing just how angry he was getting.

"Let's not argue on the first night. It's going to get very old very fast." Daphne tried to reason with the boys, who were very much acting like children in that moment and not the men they were supposed to be. "Theo go get your firewhiskey, and let's play the game."

With that everyone settled down to get to know each other a little better.

 **A/N: There's the first chapter. Up next, I'm planning on doing the game of Truth or Dare and introducing the game that will be offered to Hermione. I don't know exactly who I'm going to pair up with her yet, but it's either going to be Theo or Draco. Let me know which pair you would like to see. Also, I'm planning on updating at least once a week. Due to a lot going on right now I don't want to promise anything more than that and not an able to deliver. Also, as I get more of the story done I might update sooner (who knows). Thank you for reading my first stab at a chaptered fanfic! Let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I would like to thank everyone for reading my story. It means a lot to me that you all took the time out of your day to read something I wrote. Also, there is some course language in this chapter, and more than likely various chapters to come, so if that bothers you either read over it, or replace it with another word in your head. I know in the summary I said the goal for the clues was unknown, but honestly, that was because I didn't know how I wanted to introduce the "game". But I think I figured out a way that could feasibly work. Without further ado here is the next chapter for Riddle Me This.**

 _DISCLAIMER: I, unfortunately, do not own any of the characters, books, or movies of the Harry Potter series. I am, however, borrowing them to put my little spin on things._

Theo returned from his dorm with three bottles of Ogden's Firewhiskey in hand. He conjured up 12 glasses and poured everyone a drink. "Since this is my whiskey after all, I think I should get to go first." He had a strange look in his eye that Hermione could not figure out but left her feeling slightly unnerved.

"Wait, shouldn't we make rules before we start?" asked Hermione, never one to start something without knowing all the rules beforehand.

"Of course, you would want to know the rules," Draco said sounding exacerbated. "No more than 2 Truths in a row. Everyone has to do some sort of Dare tonight."

"If you do a Dare, but don't follow it exactly, or if it's a timed Dare and you forget to follow it, that's a drink. If you refuse to do the dare, you must take a shot and run down to the Great Hall doors and back naked." This came from Pansy. It was the first time she spoke aloud to the group that night.

"Sounds fair." Everyone's heads snapped to the person who spoke. The absolute last thing anyone expected was Ron Weasley to agree with something a Slytherin suggested. "What? It's probably one of the worst things that will happen tonight, and it has to be worse than any Dare." Ron shrugged his shoulders looking unconcerned. Although, Hermione could detect a slight blush dusting his cheeks.

"Last one, if you pick Truth, you must answer it. No backing out of the question once it has been asked." Theo added before he asked is first question. "Lavender, Truth or Dare?"

Lavender's head snapped up. She was always used to be the center of attention, but the Slytherins hardly paid her any attention. She gulped nervously; she did not want to answer any questions tonight, about anything. "Dare."

"Alright, I dare you to sing everything you say for the next 10 minutes." Theo started off with a safe dare not wanting to be the one who immediately jumps into the risky ones.

"Okay, but I don't have a very good singing voice." Lavender replied not realizing that her dare already started.

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk Miss. Brown, that's a drink for not singing." Theo chastised the blonde.

Lavender took a swig from her glass and grimaced at the taste of the liquor going down. Hermione understood the girl's pain. Shortly after the end of the war, Harry, Ron, and Hermione got pissed at Grimmauld Place. They woke up with raging headaches, horrible upset stomachs, and hardly any memory from the night before. However, none of them regretted how much they had to drink. It was one of the few times they could be reckless and act like stupid, young adults.

"Alright, Daphne, Truth or Dare?" Lavender sang horribly off key. A few of the students gathered cringed slightly at the sound.

"Um….Truth?" Daphne said slightly unsure which she should pick.

"Who was your first kiss?"

A deep blush showed up on her features. For such a simple question, she really didn't want to answer it.

"Adrian Pucey, third year during a Hogsmeade weekend."

"You never told me that!" Pansy shrieked. "I told you that my first kiss was Draco and you can't tell me you kissed Adrian?"

"Pansy I'm sure you can reveal your deep, dark, horribly kept secrets when its your turn." Draco drawled.

"Whatever," Pansy snapped "who are you picking Daph?"

"Hermione, Truth or Dare?"

"I guess, Truth." It was the safest option for her. She really didn't want to have to do anything stupid, not to mention most of the things she would be asked are common knowledge due to being best friends with the Chosen One.

"Why did you and Ron spilt up?"

"Well, we dated for a while after the war, but we soon realized that we wanted different things." Hermione brushed her curls back from her face and took a drink of her Firewhiskey. She really didn't mind the taste, after awhile it grew on you.

"There has to be more than that!" Daphne probed.

"Well, he wanted to get married right away and live with his family, and I wanted to focus on my career and live in flat. We really just wanted different things. Instead of letting everything fester until we became bitter toward each other, we decided that our friendship was more important."

"Makes since I guess, your turn."

"Let's see…. Malfoy, Truth or Dare?"

This continued one with most everyone picking Dare over Truth. Hermione kept drinking and was getting warmer and warmer. Firewhiskey held true to its name by making everyone in the room feel warmer with the more they drank. Most of the girls stripped down to tank tops and shorts; while the boys put on t-shirts and pajama pants. However, Hermione kept a long sleeve shirt on and opt for long pajama pants instead of shorts. To counteract the warm feeling she had, she would discreetly cast a cooling charm on herself every so often.

Once again it was Theo's turn, "Hermione, Truth or Dare?"

She once again picked Truth knowing she could put off her dare for another turn.

"Why do you keep casting cooling charms on yourself when you think no one is looking?" He asked, genuinely curious. Everyone gave her and odd look not really noticing she had on the most clothing, nor noticing she was casting cooling charms on herself.

"Oh…. Well, ever since the war, I don't really like to show my arms." She vaguely answered.

"Why don't you like to show your arms?" Padma asked.

"She doesn't have to answer. She already gave an answer to the question asked." Harry spoke up. He always came to the defense of his nonbiologic sister. Hermione thought it was partly due to his savior complex and always feeling like he had to fix whatever wrong was happening at the moment.

"No, it's okay Harry. We are going to be living together so they have a right to know." With that, Hermione rolled up her sleeve to reveal the nasty scar she had from Bellatrix's cursed blade. Draco immediately looked away once he realized her intention. He already lived that torture once, he didn't need a reminder. "While on the run Harry, Ron, and I got captured by Snatchers. We were brought to Malfoy Manner where Bellatrix wanted to turn the three of us over to Voldemort." At the mention of Voldemort's name most every flinched; the only exceptions were the Golden Trio and Neville.

"Bellatrix tortured me for information and used a cursed blade to carve the worst thing imaginable, to her, into my arm. It tends to bring up bad memories and makes people uncomfortable, me included, so I just opt to wear long sleeves. If I get hot, I just cast a quick, discrete cooling charm over myself." She rolled her sleeve back down and idly scratched at where the word "Mudblood" was forever carved into her arm.

After her confession, the group started drinking more and talking about their experiences from the war.

"Honestly, I don't think I could ever have your courage to be so open about what happened during the war." Draco spoke honestly to Hermione. "I saw some pretty fucked up shit while He was holding the Manor captive."

"Yeah, the few times good ole dad made me go along with him to Manor it was anything but pleasant. I felt like if I did one thing to piss off Snake-eyes, I was done for." Theo spoke to no one in particular. "If the war continued any longer, I would definitely had been Marked. Dad kept trying to get me to submit since my sixteenth birthday, but I used everything I could think of to push it off." Theo, along with Draco, downed their glasses of Firewhiskey and filled them back up.

"Well at least your parents weren't trying to sell you off to the highest bidder like a prized Hippogriff." Pansy retorted. "Granted being forced to serve the craziest man, if you could even call him a man, isn't ideal either."

Daphne nodded her head in agreement, "Mum and Dad have been trying to find someone for me to marry for years. They didn't want anyone who was too close to the Dark Lord, but they also wouldn't hand me off to anyone on the opposite side either."

"I'm pretty sure as long as I married someone who doesn't mind having a few kids, Mum could careless." Ron said while swirling his Firewhiskey in his glass. "Ever since Fred died," his voice slightly choked on Fred's name, "Mum has been pushing everyone to settle down and have babies."

Padma sniffled at the mention of Ron's sibling and his fate. She never once talked about Parvati's death; every time she would start she just broke down in uncontrollable sobs.

"Okay, enough of the war talk. We have an entire year to sit around and be depressed, and to be frank, I refuse to let good Firewhiskey go to waste." Lavender piped up. Thankfully the ten minutes had long since passed and she didn't have to sing. "Hermione, your up and make it a good one."

"Hannah, Truth or Dare?" Hermione asked.

"Well since you all just shared a lot of information, I'll go with dare."

"I dare you to rundown to the kitchens and get us some food." She was getting rather tipsy due to the lack of food she ate at dinner, and this seemed like an ideal time to get a snack. Not to mention, she could hear Ron's stomach growling from where she was sitting.

"What does everyone want?"

"How about just some sandwiches and crisps?" Harry offered.

"Something sweet!" Lavender exclaimed, and a few of the witches nodded their heads in agreement.

"Alright, wish me luck!" With that Hannah left the room to hopefully make it down to the kitchens undetected.

They continued drinking and playing Truth or Dare until the early hours of the morning. Luckily, it was a Saturday and classes wouldn't be starting up the next morning. Draco got dared to wear one of Lavender's dresses by Ron. For payback Draco dared Harry to wear Slytherin robes for the first week of classes. Neville was dared to kiss his crush, if she wasn't in the room he had to do it during breakfast in front of the entire school. To everyone's surprise, he ended up kissing Hannah. Blaise confessed to taking a fancy for Luna, his exact words were 'Luna's fucking nuts, but she's not bad on the eyes'. Pansy translated that to mean that Blaise liked her in his own piggish way.

Most everyone ended up asleep on various furniture and/or people. Hermione's head was in Ron's lap while her feet were on Neville's lap. Harry was on the floor/under the coffee table. Pansy and Daphne shared a love seat. Blaise and Draco took the two chairs. Lavender was curled up on the remaining loveseat, and Padma and Hannah made it back to their room.

Theo, however, was still awake contemplating the night. He never knew the details the Golden Trio was forced to go through. It made more since as to why they were always together. His thoughts strayed towards Hermione. She had really grown up since his first encounter with her all those years ago. Her hair was no longer an uncontrollable birds nest. That was not to mean that her hair was not curly, but they were more tamed than her earlier years at Hogwarts. She had developed into her womanly figure, although in his opinion, she still didn't wear clothes that fit her properly.

As he was thinking about Hermione, he started to realize that he had developed a crush on the girl. If he was being honest with himself, which was exceedingly easy to do with the help of Firewhiskey, he had taken a fancy to her during their fourth year. To be more specific, during the Yule Ball. Prior to the dance, he hardly noticed she was even a female. However, when she walked in with her make up and hair all done up, in that periwinkle-blue dress he couldn't look away.

He never really cared about the blood status issue, despite his father's insistence. He was always expected to marry a pureblood witch from a wealthy family and produce at least one heir. However, now that he was the Head-of-House for the Nott family, due to his father being a wanted fugitive, he could do as he please.

At that his thoughts turned to his father. Once he heard the Dark Lord had fallen, Nott Sir promptly disapparated. He knew that anyone who stuck around to get in some more fun would be captured, tried, and thrown in Azkaban to rot. Theo had not heard from his father since the morning of the infamous battle. Aurors came to his house to arrest both the Nott men, even though Theo was never involved with the Death Eaters. The young Nott heir was forced to give up memories and have his mind looked through by a Legilimens to prove his innocents. Any and all contact by his father was to be reported to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement immediately.

Although Theo thought the things his father did was depraved and disgusting, he was secretly happy he never contacted him. He wanted his father caught as much as the DMLE but he didn't want to be the one to turn Nott Sir in.

Eventually Theo decided he needed to get some sleep if he was going to be awake for breakfast the following morning.

 _The next morning…._

Harry was the first to awake up, however he was also the reason the rest of the room woke up. Unbeknown to him, he did not realize that when he fell asleep on the floor beside his two best friends he had partially rolled under the coffee table. He went to sit up and smacked his head on the underside of said table. "Holy hell!" He yelled while trying to get out of under the coffee table. "This is the most ridiculous piece of furniture ever. Can't people just have bloody end tables?" he muttered to himself.

"For fuck's sake Potter, do you always have to make such a racket in the morning?" Draco drawled while rubbing his head. He was positive he was going to have a hangover today, if only he had thought ahead and brought a couple Sober-Up potions or at the very least a couple pain relief potions.

"You wake up under a coffee table, smack your head, and see how quiet you are about it." Came Harry's retort.

"If you children are done arguing, I'm going to get dressed and see if it isn't too late to grab breakfast." Pansy muttered while she strolled off to her room with Daphne in tow.

At Pansy declaration, the rest of the group slowly made their way to various rooms to shower and get dressed for the day.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry met back up in the common room and started the walk down to the Great Hall. When they came up to the Gryffindor table, they found Luna sitting with Ginny. Ron and Harry shared a look with each other and sat on either side of the girl.

"Hey Luna," Harry greeted the blonde witch.

"Hi Harry, how was your morning? You might want to put extra honey in your tea this morning to keep the Dabbernots away from you. They like to infest the morning after heavy drinking." Luna handed Harry the pot of honey and continued her conversation with Ginny.

"Um…thanks, hey, what are your thoughts about Zabini?"

"Harry James Potter!" Hermione chastised the raven-haired boy, "You should mind your own business and leave Luna alone." Although she wanted to know Luna's thoughts about the extravagant Slytherin, she didn't want the whole Great Hall to find out.

"Oh com' on, Mione, we just want to know what she thinks about our new house mate." Although, Ron was trying to get Harry out of trouble with their studious friend, he ended up getting himself dragged in the mess.

"Why do you want to know what Luna thinks about Zabini? And why do you all smell like a liquor store?" Ginny wrinkled her nose the three new arrivals. "You should probably shower before McGonagall comes by and says something. After you're done with that, we can all get properly sloshed together." She smirked at the look Hermione sent her.

"You're Head Girl! You're supposed to set a good example for these hooligans! If I lose you to them, how am I ever going to rein in these two?" Hermione dramatically questioned.

"Oy! We're right here ya' know."

"Trust me Ron, everyone knows where you are by the sound of food being chewed."

"Ginny, you're supposed to stick up for your older brothers not point out their flaws."

"If I don't point out your flaws, who will?" came Ginny's cheeky reply.

They continued to bicker back and forth while eating their breakfast. Once done, Hermione wanted to show her two closest girl friends her new rooms. The boys tagged along since they had nothing better to do.

As the group walked into the common room, Draco was lounging on the couch. "Oh goody, a Weasel family reunion."

"Oh come on Malfoy, if you want some family that isn't on house arrest you can always join ours." Ginny winked at him. "Mom does like to take in strays, right Harry."

"She likes to take in nice strays, not the ones that bite." Harry retorted, not taking offense to being called a stray. He had no blood family that wanted him so essentially that's what he was. "Plus, I don't think Ferret boy here would take to kindly to be caged up."

"Oh, don't lie, Potty, you know you just don't think. You don't have to try and cover that up by putting the focus on me."

"Very funny, I wonder, are you litter trained? Or should I make sure to put extra paper around the dorms, so you don't make a mess?"

"As entertaining as it is to watch you too flirt, I was promised a tour. Come on, 'Mione, show me around while these two figure out who wants to be on top." Ginny grabbed Hermione's and Luna's arm and started walking towards a set of doors.

Hermione directed them in the other direction towards her shared room with Lavender. The three sat down on Hermione's bed to talk.

"It must be staining to live with those two, warkelsprouts are all over them." Luna off handedly commented.

"What do warkelsprouts do?" Hermione asked. Although she believed Luna to be slightly crazy, Luna usually was very close to the truth when she started talking about random information; also, that random information usually proved to be useful in its own way later down the road.

"They don't usually do anything. They are generally around people with compatible sexual chemistry. Although, I highly doubt those two have noticed it yet. If Ginny keeps mentioning it, they might realize their compatibility sooner rather than later." Towards the end of her explanation, Luna stood up and started to run one of her hands along the spines of Hermione's books.

"See my bluntness is really a blessing." Ginny swiped her hair off her shoulder and shot Hermione a triumphant look. "What's it like to live with the Slytherin boys?" Ginny wiggled her eyebrows.

"Well it's only been one-night Gin. We drank, played Truth or Dare, and most of us fell asleep out in the common room. It's not like we had a great big orgy." Mione rolled her eyes. "I swear all you care about is who's a good lay."

"Well, who is a good lay? Clearly Draco bats for the other team, but what are Theo and Blaise like?" Ginny asked while she flopped down Hermione's bed.

"Well, Blaise actually said something pretty interesting last night." Hermione looked towards Luna who had a book about mythical creatures in her hand. "Technically speaking, Pansy said Blaise fancies Luna."

"Why did Pansy say that and not Blaise himself?" Ginny wondered aloud.

"Probably because he has a hard time expressing how he feels." Luna said as she adjusted her cork and pinecone headdress she was wearing. No one really questioned the stuff she wore anymore. Most of the time the reasonings went directly over their heads and only made sense to her and her alone.

"You never did say how Theo was. What did he have to say last night?"

"Nothing really, he asked about my scar, and about how his dad tried to force him to follow Voldy."

"Wow, that's depressing. Did you get any good information, like who he fancies? I'm looking around for a new boy toy since Harry and I didn't work out." After a brief pause, "Let me paint your nails."

Hermione looked at her nails, "What color were you thinking?" She was never concerned about her appearance, but if it got Ginny off the topic of men, she was all for getting her nails done.

 _Monday Morning..._

It was the first day of classes; the Great Hall was very loud with all the students figuring out who was in what class. The seventh and eighth years were in combined classes. Hermione had Ancient Runes with Theo, Draco, and Padma while everyone else, besides Lavender, had Care of Magical Creatures. Owls flew into the Great Hall carrying the morning post.

A brown school owl dropped off a letter to Hemione. Curiously she opened the letter and quickly read it.

 _Dear Miss Granger, I have noticed you for a while now. However, I never could find the courage to talk to you. Instead I have decided to write you various letters in the hopes that it will ease my worry in talking to you. I have decided to hide various letters around Hogwarts and each letter will have a clue to the next. If you can correctly guess who I am then clues will cease, and you will receive all the letters in person. If you want to play along, the first clue is 'Go to the place where the great, dungeon bat hid all his things'. Good Luck!_

 **A/N: Thank you for reading another chapter. I have decided that this will be a Theo x Hemione pairing. I was leaning that way anyway and my two lovely reviewers swayed me to take the plunge. I know Dramione is more common, but I feel like Hermione and Theo may be slightly better matched. Who knows maybe I'm just crazy? (Really that's the answer, I'm just crazy, but I can pretend). Let me know what you think.**

 **P.S. while I was writing the truth or dare part, I got the idea to make Lavender sing because I was listening to music and singing. I decided she would be a horrible singer because while I was singing my cat was sleeping next to me. I started to get a little enthusiastic about my singing and she woke up, looked at me, and walked away. When I stopped singing she came back and curled up next to me again. If that is not a sign I should never take up a singing career, I don't know what is.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Harry Potter._

A brown school owl dropped off a letter to Hemione. Curiously she opened the letter and quickly read it.

 _Dear Miss Granger, I have noticed you for a while now. However, I never could find the courage to talk to you. Instead I have decided to write you various letters in the hopes that it will ease my worry in talking to you. I have decided to hide said letters around Hogwarts and each letter will have a clue to the next. If you can correctly guess who I am then clues will cease, and you will receive all the letters in person. If you want to play along, the first clue is 'Go to the place where the great, dungeon bat hid all his things'. Good Luck!_

Hermione was confused, and that was not a feeling she was used to feeling. She reread the letter for a second time trying to figure out if this was some kind of joke. She quickly folded up the note and packed up her things. Breakfast was ending, and she had classes to focus on.

She walked up to Ancient Runes with Padma. They were discussing the different ways you could use runes in defense. It was a known fact that the seventh years had to complete a project for Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. She knew Padma would be a great partner; they were both studious and liked to get assignments done as early as possible, so they weren't forced to rush through them.

Draco and Theo also knew about the projects required for their electives and were hoping they could do them together. It was half the reason they chose to take the same electives. Both boys figured they could help each other study and if one of them didn't know something the other surely would.

The group of eighth years walked into the classroom and immediately took their seats. Professor Babbling started the lesson at exactly 9 o'clock. She immediately jumped into the lesson; towards the end of the lesson, Professor Babbling assigned partners for the project. They were allowed to do anything they wanted as long as it had something to do with Ancient Runes. Hermione was paired with Draco, and Padma was paired with Theo. At the end of class Padma came up to talk to Hermione.

"I was really looking forward to working with ways runes could be used to further our use of defense. That is going to make a great project."

"Well, depending on what ideas Malfoy has in mind, you could still use it as your thesis." Hermione offered. Although she was looking forward to expanding more on the thesis she developed, she didn't want to come off as a 'know-it-all' when she talked with Malfoy about their project.

"That would be awesome!" Padma's face lit up at Hermione's suggestion. "I'll have to meet with Theo to discuss what kind of ideas he has first and see if his thoughts have gone in a certain direction.

They made their way from the sixth floor down to the greenhouses for their Herbology lesson. Hermione met up with Harry and Ron while they waited for the greenhouse to be unlocked.

"I don't know why I have to take this stupid class. Its way to hard and has nothing to do with being a Auror." Ron grumbled while he leaned against a wall.

"Oh Ron, honestly, you could have picked any class you wanted. Don't complain now because you let your mom fill out your form." Hermione chastised while she pulled out the correct book she would need for the class ahead. "Don't blame anyone for you taking this class, if you weren't so lazy you could have taken the classes you wanted."

"Way to throw that one in my face Mione." Ron grumbled.

"Hey! Don't get an attitude with her she didn't pick out your schedule." Ginny smacked her brother on the side of the head for getting an attitude with Hermione for no reason.

"Ginny! I didn't know you were taking this class! As much as I love these two, I'm so happy to have you in this class, Gin." Hermione pulled Ginny's arm until the redhead sat down on the bench next her. "Plus, I need to talk to you on our lunch break." Hermione whispered.

"Ooooo, I can't wait!" Ginny excitedly whispered back. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I got this weird letter at breakfast with the morning post."

"Alright students! Welcome back! We are going to get started right away so put away your books and get in front of a compost site." Professor Sprout's lessons were almost always practical in nature. Any reading required would usually be done for homework. The lesson continued with them potting various plants from smaller pots into larger pots.

After class was let out they had a half an hour until lunch was being served. Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her off to a random bench away from prying ears.

"What does this letter say?" She eagerly asked her studious friend.

Hermione handed her the folded note and sat back waiting for Ginny to finish reading. "Well, what do you think?" She asked once the redhead finished reading.

"I'd rather know what you think." Gin honestly replied.

"I think someone is trying to pull my leg and make me look like a fool. Who sends someone they want to talk to on a hunt for letters they wrote? Why not just put them in places they know I would come across them? Or just talk to me? Its not like I'm a hard person to get to know."

"That's not necessarily the truth, Mione. You can be quite difficult to get to know. You use your brain and knowledge like armor to shield yourself from getting close to anyone." At this Hermione started to protest, but Ginny held up a hand. "It's not a bad thing, you don't want to get hurt and no one blames you for that. However, it can make getting to know you kind of intimidating when you start to spout off all kinds of nonsense that people should probably really know."

"Okay….I see your point. So, what do I? It still doesn't explain why they would make me go off to random parts of the castle."

"Honestly, I have no idea. The reason why they would do that would probably change on who it is that sent you the letter." Ginny leaned back on bench to let her skin soak up some of the fall sun. "At least you know it isn't someone like Ron."

"True, I could never see Ron setting up an elaborate plan just to give me letters. Hell, I couldn't even see Ron writing letters. So, it's got to be someone who is persistent enough to set all this up." She sighed, it looked like she was going to have to follow this thing threw until the end. "Let's go get some lunch Gin."

"Wait, what are you going to do about the letters?" She asked as she sat up and looked at Hermione.

A determined glint appeared in Hermione's chocolate brown eyes. "Go to Snape's old storeroom, of course."

The two girls walked towards the Great Hall to get lunch before Hermione had to go to Arithmancy. They whispered back and forth throughout lunch which was why they didn't notice that a pair of green eyes were constantly shifting over to them.

"Are you even listening to me?" Pansy asked with an irritated tone.

"Yeah, of course." Theo replied as he turned his focus to his friend sitting in front of him. "You were talking about how annoying it is to share space with a bunch of Gryffindors."

"Lucky guess...what specifically annoys me?" She asked while crossing her arms. She knew he wasn't paying attention, so she wasn't about to let him off the hook.

"They just come and go as they please and leave their books sitting around?" Theo guessed, although he made it sound like he knew exactly what he was talking about. Theo really hoped he was right because the last thing he wanted was for Pansy to find out about his fascination with Hermione. Before everyone else found out Theo wanted to tell her himself.

Theo really wanted to know what the female Weasley and Hermione were talking about. Did she tell someone about the letter? Would the She-Weasel, he really should learn her name and not use some childish nickname Draco came up with, figure out who sent Hermione the letter?

As lunch was wrapping up, Hermione got up and made her way down to the dungeons. As soon as she read the clue she knew it had to do with the late Severus Snape. It took slightly longer to figure where exactly she would find the next the letter. She narrowed it down to either Snape's rooms or the storage cupboard. She figured it was the storage cupboard simply because who would know the password to Snape's private rooms beside the Headmaster.

As she was walking down the stairs, she contemplated what she knew of this mysterious person. She could narrow it down to the students, specifically the male students. She figured she could rule out Harry, Ron, and Neville. Simply because she was ninety-nine percent positive that Harry was gay, she had already dated Ron and they didn't work out, and she talked to Neville all the time about lots of different things.

She made her way to the storeroom for the Potion's supplies. She had broken into this room during her second year, so she could steal the supplies needed to brew Polyjuice Potion. She tried to just open the door, but it was locked; the second thing she tried was a simple Alohomora. Neither option worked, but she figured why try the complicated route when a simple unlocking spell might do the trick. She shrugged her shoulders and started in on unwarding the supply closet.

It took a good half hour to get the room unlocked, she had about fifteen minutes before she needed so head over to her next class. She walked in the closet and looked around for any obvious letters. When nothing immediately stuck out to her, she started poking around different shelves. As more time passed, she was getting desperate. She only had a few minutes before she had to leave and go to class, and Hermione knew that if she had to come back Slughorn would ward the cupboard with stronger spells.

She moved the shredded boomslang skin and saw a rolled piece of parchment. She grabbed the parchment and unrolled it to see if it was addressed to her. Sure enough, her name was at the top. She moved everything back to where it was originally and left the Potion supply room. Hermione raced up the many flights of stairs until she made it to the seventh floor outside classroom B.

Many of the other students were gathered outside and she panted to catch her breath.

"Hey Hermione, what's wrong?" Padma curiously asked.

"Oh…nothing…just thought I was going to be late so I ran up here from the library." Hermione panted out. She didn't want to tell anyone else about the letters until she had more information.

"I didn't see you in the library when I left, or I would have walked up with you."

"That's okay, I tend to go to secluded corners, so no one bothers me. Downside being, I usually get lost in my work and most people don't even know I'm there." That was the truth. She did study in secluded corners, and she did get lost in her work.

The door magically unlocked and opened signaling the start of class.

"Alright everyone, this class is mostly independent work. However, I decided that the project due at the end of the term will be partner based. At the end of class, you will get your partner assignments based on how you solve a few different questions." At her last statement, Professor Vector handed out parchment with various problems that she wanted the students to solve. "This will not be graded, but I want you to do your best. I want cohesive pairs, but I also don't want to partner people together that answer questions exactly alike. You should challenge each other but should not constantly argue. Alright, go ahead and answer the questions to the best of your ability." Vector sat down and started to write, presumably to roughly pair up the students.

Hermione was the first student done, however she was very closely followed by both Theo and Draco. "Hermione, Theo, please come to the front." Professor Vector called out a few minutes after the three turned in their assignments. "I think you two would benefit the most from being paired together. Please use the rest of the class time to come up with a rough idea for how you would use Arithmancy to predict the outcome of some event."

Hermione and Theo gathered up their things and walked out into the hallway. "So, do you have any ideas on what we could predict?" Hermione asked once they were seated at one of the various study tables located on this floor. "Something that would be relatively easy would be who would win the Quidditch World Cup this year, but that also might be too easy for a seventh-year project."

"What about calculating how the eighth-years will do on their NEWTs? It has more variables than quidditch, and it would be something that would hit closer to home for both of us than quidditch. Well, at least it would for me since I'm not a huge fan of quidditch." Theo suggested. He didn't really mind quidditch, but it would be kind of boring.

"That would be perfect! We could each do the calculations for each other, that way our biases don't show in the calculations, and we can split the other students up. I could take the remaining Slytherins and you can do the Gryffindors. One of us will take Padma and the other can take Hannah. I think it would be best if you took Padma since you are work on the Ancient Runes project together, and I'll pick up Hannah." At this point she got out a blank piece of parchment and a quill. She started writing everything down, so she didn't forget anything when she went back to look at the project later. "We should meat up at least one a week for an hour or two to work on the project. Would Thursdays after Defense work best for you? Or would another time work best?"

"Um…I think that all sounds like a great plan, and Thursdays are fine."

"Great…. sorry I didn't mean to get carried away there." She laughed slightly, not so much at finding the situation funny, but at the discomfort she felt.

"It's okay, I would rather have a partner that gets carried away then someone who just leaves it off until the last minute or someone who doesn't try and participate at all."

"Good point. Just let me know if I'm ever getting overbearing. I know a lot of people call me a know-it-all, but sometimes it's hard to let go of that and trust other people aren't going to tank my grade."

"Well I really enjoy Arithmancy, so you don't have to worry about me causing your grade to drop." Theo replied while he looked over at her. She was bent over a desk writing everything they, more like she, talked about.

"Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do for Ancient Runes. Hopefully, Malfoy has something would be useful. However, if he doesn't we can always use the idea I had." She mumbled not even realizing she was talking aloud.

"What's your idea for the Runes project? I was thinking about testing the ways Runes could be used in defense, but I'm not sure where to go from there." Theo added to the conversation she was having. He didn't pick up that she was having that conversation with herself.

"What did you say?" She snapped her head in his direction.

"Um… ways to use runes for defense?" Theo cautiously said.

"That's what I was thinking of doing! I believe there is a bunch of untapped potential for runes in both offensive and defensive magic." Hermione's face lit up.

They continued talking about their projects until Draco and Padma came over to their table.

"Hey Granger, when do you want to get together to discuss the Ancient Runes project?"

"Actually, Theo and I were just talking about that. We were thinking of doing a combined project; instead of doing two completely separate topics, two of us would do our project on uses of runes in defense, and the other two would do the uses of runes in offensive magic. What do you guys think?" Hermione asked the two newcomers.

The group agreed that that plan would work best as long as Professor Babbling would allow them to work closely with each other. They walked down to the common room as a group and found the rest of their mismatched group sitting around in the common room.

Hermione wanted to excuse herself. That way she would be able to read the second letter, but she didn't want to be rude and abandon the group when everyone was spending time together.

They sat around and talked about how this was going to be a tough year. The professors all expected everyone's best; for the Golden Trio they haven't been in school since their sixth year. Most everyone split off into small groups around the common room, with Harry, Neville, Ron, and even Blaise playing exploding snap. Lavender, Hannah, Pansy, and Daphne were talking about the latest fashion trends. Which left Draco, Theo, Padma, and Hermione to sort out the finer details of their projects.

In what felt like no time at all, dinner was upon them. They made their way down to the Great Hall and to their respective tables. Hermione was pulled into the spot next to Ginny which left the seats across from the girls for the three guys in attendance.

"So, did you find the next letter?" Ginny excitably whispered to Hermione.

"Yes, but I don't know what it says. I haven't had a moment to myself to read it." Hermione whispered back while she started to put some food on her plate.

"Oh, come on, Mione, the suspense is killing me! How have you gone half the day with a what is basically a love letter in your pocket and you haven't read it?" The redheaded girl asked while buttering a roll.

"Well I've had classes and then I've been busy getting my projects all set up that way we aren't waiting until the last minute to complete them."

At the last statement, Ginny cut her off, "It's the first day of classes. I'm sure setting everything up for the year could have waited until tomorrow."

"What are you two whispering about?" Harry interrupted the girls.

"You were doing that during lunch. What are you planning?" Ron narrowed his eyes at the closeness the girls were showing.

"Nothing, just girl stuff." Gin replied giving the best excuse for nosey men.

The letter was not brought up again that evening. In fact, Hermione almost forgot about it completely. She only remembered she hadn't read it when she was pulling books out of her bag and replacing them with the books she would need for the next day's classes.

She sat down on her bed and opened the letter.

 _Miss. Granger, I am very pleased you have decided to read my letters. I was quite nervous that you would ignore them completely, which I would have understood. It's kind of ridiculous that I can survive a war, but I get tongue tied when I try to talk to a pretty girl. I honestly don't know what I should even say to you. Well, I guess I can start by saying that without you, the war would probably have continued on for quite some time. I know it was technically Potter who destroyed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named; without your help I'm not sure if he could have done as quickly as he did. I am forever in your debt. You will find the next clue near the place where a strong, brave lion put a pale ferret in its place. Yours Truly._

 **A/N: I know I said I would be updating probably once a week, but I this chapter just happened. The last one I wasn't very happy with and kept changing stuff around, but I just wrote this one and am pretty happy with the way it turned out. Let me know what you think, or if there is something you would like to see. It will be mainly Theo/Hermione but there will be other romances as well. Drarry will play a role so if that's not your thing this story might not be for you. There won't be any Drarry smut if that helps make your decision to stay. Although I can't really promise that since I have no idea how this story is going to play out. Anyway enough of my winded ramblings. Please review!**


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